Agri group Sinag feeds 25,000 kids on eve of World Food Day

Sinag officers in Plaridel, Bulacan, serve indigent kids nutritious food produced by local farmers and fishermen.

BULACAN, Philippines—On the eve of World Food Day on Wednesday, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) kicked-off a series of feeding programs with close to 25,000 children benefiting from its initial salvo in flood-hit areas of Bulacan and Pangasinan.

Dubbed “Sa Maunlad na Agrikultura, Bansa ay Sasagana,” Sinag’s simultaneous feeding programs were held in 27 public schools in Calasiao, Pangasinan and in Jubilee Home, Lumang Bayan, Plaridel, Bulacan. Similar activities are planned in Albay province and Yolanda-hit areas in the Visayas.

Sinag chairman Rosendo So said the group’s feeding program seeks to promote agriculture and local products. “The food we’re sharing are actual harvests of Filipino rice and vegetable farmers, while the pork, chicken and fish were raised by our backyard and commercial raisers. In Calasiao alone, backyard and commercial hog raisers contributed more than 2,200 kilos of pork; while rice farmers and rice millers in Pangasinan donated 40 sacks (2,000 kilos) of rice,” he said.

“Mula sa mga nagdaang bagyong Ondoy, Pablo, Santi, Yolanda, at sa kakatapos lang na kalamidad dulot ng bagyong Glenda, Luis at Mario, ang mahihirap at maliliit na magsasaka, mangingisda at backyard raisers ang unang tinatamaan at huling nakakabangon (From the past typhoons like Ondoy, Pablo, Santi, Yolanda and to the recent damages wrought by typhoons Glenda, Luis and Mario, the poor farmers, fishermen and backyard raisers were the first to suffer and the last to recover)”, So said during the feeding program’s launch in Calasiao, Pangasinan.

He urged flood victims not to lose hope and to continue farming. He also called for more government intervention to ensure food security while addressing the people’s nutritional needs, especially those exposed to adverse climactic and weather conditions.

So stressed that unlike in urban areas, where people can immediately continue with their daily routine when floods subside, people in rural communities have to bear the brunt of lost livelihoods, lost income and the difficulty of rebuilding their homes.

According to Sinag, there’s an urgent need to increase private investments and public expenditures to protect and support domestic agriculture. A strong and viable domestic agriculture and resilient rural communities is the best defense against the threats of climate change.

“We enjoin everyone to support children in communities that need extra nutrition and we encourage them to source this from our own harvests and local production,” So said.